"As a team we agreed there was only one outcome when we
gathered on Tuesday and that was to put (qualification) to bed
in this game.

"History tells you that this is fantastic for New Zealand
football.

"I know I'm the coach saying this, but it's the best result
in the game in years."

New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz scored twice in 10 minutes
midway through the second half to break a 1-1 deadlock after New
Caledonia's Michel Hmae had cancelled out Ben Sigmund's early
strike.

"There's a bunch of very happy players back there," Smeltz
said. "We've come over to Noumea and achieved exactly what we
wanted."

The win maintained New Zealand's unbeaten record in the
four-team qualifying phase and gave them an unassailable lead at
the top of the standings with two games in hand.

New Zealand play New Caledonia again in Auckland on
Wednesday before tackling Fiji in Lautoka on Nov. 19. The
Fijians also play away to Vanuatu on Wednesday but none of the
remaining matches will have any bearing on the standings.

The only time New Zealand qualified for the World Cup was in
1982. Australia have dominated the Oceania division since but
moved to Asia after the last World Cup in search of better
competition and direct entry.

Fiji earlier won their first match of the final Oceania
qualifying tournament when they beat Vanuatu 2-0 at Ba with
Salesh Kumar and substitute Maciu Dunadamu both scoring goals.